Ahah cool, glad it helped the workout 
@Cosmic @acidhouseforall thank you !
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Just picked up a second Mackie 1604 Vlz mixer for using in a live improve setup. Really excited for its arrival on Monday, and setting up on the kitchen table to work on something. After trying many compromises in gear, it’s gonna be good.
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I had the same idea once. But the problem is that ist’s not that potable 
. For the studio overdriving the inputs helps a lot to get that gritty techno sound
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Yeah that’s always been my issue, and have tried various smaller desks but they just don’t sound as good or have the connectivity.
However, the conclusion I’ve come to, whenever me or my wife play live we get an Ubber so to and from the venue, and normally a bag is in the boot, so for London it’s good. The one I bought comes with a custom flightcase with handle. It’s 15kg, so not light but doable if to and from transport.
The other thing is they are arguably the most popular compact mixer on the market, so if venues/organisers don’t have one available they can probably source/hire one with little trouble as so versatile meeting most artist’s needs. I’m betting on if traveling further, carrying it wont be needed.
Also, it’s not like you always have to perform with that mixer, it’ll just be a damn sight better if you can, so there is always that adjustments of the setup should a compromise be needed.
The main thing tho is just knowing the setup works and then the incentive to continually work on sets is always there, with compromising happening after creating and not being a blocker before even starting.
The second mixer or stand alone setup is really appealing. Needing to unplug and rewire to play live is a huge pain the ass haha
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How about the 1202 ?
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I’ve been checking out your videos in this thread and you guys seem to have a nice flow going. I would like to hear a breakdown of how you improvise, what you program beforehand etc.
cheers
Yeah we have a 1202, I actually tried to make this work the day before ordering the 16. It’s great for a little mixer but not having the mid-sweep eq, main inserts for compression/limiting, the lack of channels is a bit of an issue, I like running fx back into channels on the desk so that cobbles up pretty quick along with individual outputs from Elektron Rytm, also only a few channels have gains which is pretty key if driving the desk, the last thing is the auxiliary don’t both have pre/post options, which i use massively.
I could obviously compromise on some of them here and there but it’s all of those together which makes it less useful.
Having said that, if the set is a bit more of a prepared thing or a single long track or something a bit more experimental and less performative, then the 12 is definitely something you can through in your bag. It’s solid for the size.
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In the beginning we had loads of gear and needed a mixer . But by minimizing gear now I just have to carry a Magma Case with me . This maybe a bit arrogant: but I don’t need a mixer for live anymore because I am confident enough and know that our sound slaps on big PAs. Maybe because we are training on big PAs . My fiend moe is a sound engineer and has access to such equipment .
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Hey thanks a lot 
! We planned to make a „how we play video“ because people asked us ! When ist’s ready I will post it here . The idea behind our live set is that I prepare some pattern on DT or freestyle on the TR8s and Moe makes a patch on his modular and we just jam for 60-90 minutes
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Yeah there’s nothing wrong with not using a mixer, or having a solid sound to not need one, fair enough, but i use the mixer the same as someone might use a synth or like in a dub setup, and the structure of the set is done on the mixer. The setup is pretty small too, its literally Rytm, 2 fx, compressor and mixer.
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That’s interesting . Never though about using a mixer as an instrument . What about an xone 92/96 or model 1then ? It’s more compact and has all the connectivity + nice filters . I frequently think to buy one (96) for my setup but it’s quite expensive .
Would you talk about what the mixer and external processors give you that the Rytm’s internal tools don’t?
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They are very expensive for sure. Probably pretty fun tho and esp if needing that more highpass/lowpass filtered mixing style and sound heard often in modern techno sets etc Not personally a fan of that sound and style. I more like frequencies arguing for space with more individual blocks of frequencies over say everything having its place.
For a dj mixer it’s pretty packed, but for a audio mixer option it’s really missing quite a bit. Still, it’s a dj mixer primarily with cue and connectivity for that, actually I could see that working well between two artists playing complimentary sets/sounds, a sort of back to back of sorts.
This is interesting to me.
That Typeface stuff up thread is pretty hard/minimal but you can get on with it because you know it’s always moving. The faders keep er… fading.
I like your stuff on bandcamp. Do you have any recordings of live gigs you can share?
I’m new to making sound. I’ve been playing with A&H 14:4:2 desk, Sherman and various delays & reverbs (and an Elektron) recently and realised I’m fascinated more by the mixer and feedback than anything.
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Great set! Finally found the time to listen to it yesterday. At one point I thought it would benefit from going in a different direction, introduce new timbres/elements, but I probaply only thought so, because I knew you had very little prepared, not sure if I would have felt similar if I didn’t knew - then I looked at the time and noticed only 15 minutes left^^ So the set was nearing it’s end anyway - well done!
The Alphabase sounds incredible btw, the kicks in particular have this crispness, amazing! But the overall sound was also very good and coherent, I really liked the modular soundscape you created, everything seemed to fit.
What’s that rack thing under the Alphabase btw and how do you have the Space and El Capistan connected? Mixer aux send?
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I’m afraid I don’t have much to contribute to the thread.
Other than …
Dry-kill repeater pedals are great. Chained (tribal, rhythmic delays), or onto a reverb (diy gated reverb sort of).
I think this kind of effect can help blend ‘transisitons’.
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Yeah sure, happy to share anything.
The internal fx and routing of the Rytm is not bad, it’s limited bit you can be quite creative with it for sure. The area i really use lots with fx and is lacking compared to a mixer, besides the obvious eq flexibility, and that is huge, it’s the immediacy and hands on in the areas a mixer is designed ie levels, eq, into and out of fx, and the routing of all that, the Rytm is quite menu based, one sound really at a time. With the Mackie i can be adjusting levels and eq at the same time, or if balancing with fx, say delay/reverb, can even be balancing a few tracks at once, jumping between the two. Mute buttons as well are arguably more immediate but definitely more flexible, being able to mure any audio instead of what is assigned per pad in a mute menu.
With fx specifically, obviously you can pick what you want to use if external versus delay/reverb only on Rytm, or maybe a pseudo chorus/flanger of sorts with lots of setting of tempo etc
I think the texture and quality of the Rytm for better or worse which is entirely subjective, is always pretty samey for my taste. For a built in fx i mean don’t get me wrong it’s amazing, you can do very cool stuff with it, but your sort of working within the Rytm workflow and sound more than finding and shaping one through various machines.
In many ways the audio > fx > compressor flow in the Rytm is ideal, where it falls over for me is not being able to easily influence that flow, like there is no mix page for example, and also being able to route into it. It’s either standalone or you go external with maybe a bit of fx from Rytm.
I’ve tried using the Rytm on its own and jam it similar to how i might with the mixer, and it’s definitely fun, and can sound good, it is a much less immediate feel and so ends up being a little more menu diving, dealing with encoders, which is really quite different compared to a mixer dial/fader, and I’ve found as a result the sound and stricture ends up being more one designed out of Rytm than one being found through a mixer.
I wouldn’t say one is better than another or anything like that, it totally depends on each individual. For me I’ve always looked for individual outputs on gear that benefits from it and then using the mixer to shape the track for as long as i have been using a mixer, so it’s just a box very specifically deigned for what mixers are designed for and if anything, if the Rytm was way more stripped back in features and just individual outputs I’d probably be happier than it having say more features found on a mixer. They do compliment each other extremely well tho. The Rytm sounds waaaay closer to my taste though the Mackie.
Happy to chat more about specifics tho 
So that stuff up in the thread is all live stuff. The top one was Soundcraft mixer, external fx and i was triggering samples every 16th step from laptop, before i had the Rytm, it’s a few years back. The birthday hangout was live in the studio as part of a group hangout where some mates performed and we were short so I quickly made something a hour before streaming and jammed it. The off the cuffs was literally made up as i went, again in the studio, and is the oldest of the 3.
I rarely record my live sets and I’ve rarely played in recent years, mainly through not being happy with the setup but also been focusing on other stuff. That’s changing tho.
Yeah, the idea of really repetitive stuff for me is trying to play with structures and expectations around them, to hopefully allow listeners to be in some ways ultimately listening to something really intense and repetitive but totally following the changes, almost listening past the dududududa and engagement is sort if flicking between the intensity and the chilled through that slower groove that can be played with when something is at certain tempos and emphasis on certain bits.
Oh by the way. It arrived moments ago 
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Apologies, I had enjoyed the Typeface performances then lost track that Pokk=Typeface! Lost in the loops !!!
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Just make sure to look for the exit signs when lost in there, staying in there too long things can get weird 
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Thanks for the insights!
I’m working ny way towards a Rtym-only set at a birthday party in a couple of months. GAS is making me wonder if I should get a mixer and a delay. I almost certainly will, eventually. but I want to make myself see how far I can get with scenes and perfs first.
It’s good to hear that your concerns were mostly about immediacy and workflow. I was a bit worried you were going to complain about the reverb and compressor. I’m sure external ones offer a lot more, but the built-ins seem pretty flexible and sound “fine” for my first set in years. My main concern is that I’ll have different compression per kit/track and would benefit from having a main bus compressor to apply a cohesive levelling, and maybe tone (i.e. I’m GASing for a Heat or Boum too 
)
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